1. ITDG 2012 Summary conclusions
Daniel Defays, Director B
27-28 November 2012
IT Director's Group Meeting

2. IT Director's Group Meeting – 27-28 Nov 2012
Agenda Overview
Items for Discussion
Organizational Structure
Enterprise Architecture
Working Groups
Work Programme
Items for Information
Legislation
Reports
Other business
IT Director's Group Meeting – Nov 2012
Summary conclusions

3. Organizational Structure
ITDG Mandate and Rules of Procedure
Corrections in the articles
Article 5 – Exchange of views launched at least 2 weeks before the meeting
Article 9.2 – Verify if one member is enough for termination procedure
Article 11.2 – Concern regarding the minutes being only in English
Article 13 – Regrouping of points 13.1 and 13.2 needed
Article 15 – Renaming of the article (to be verified)
Rules of procedures and mandate adopted – reserve from Spain due to article 11.2
IT Director's Group Meeting – Nov 2012
Summary conclusions

4. Organizational Structure
Group structure working under the ITDG and DIME
Stronger coordination for ITDG and DIME requested. Creation of a common steering group suggested and volunteers asked. Interest to participate should be communicated with the next 2 weeks.
To limit the proliferation of TWG is needed. Proposal of merging EDAMIS and the Validation Group is followed.
The Seasonal Adjustment group should be added.
Two different types of working groups are considered: one dealing with tools and another dealing with topic-related issues. They all report to ITDG or/and DIME.
A reorganization of the working group structure should be reconsidered to better support the ESS work programme and joint strategy.
IT Director's Group Meeting – Nov 2012
Summary conclusions

5. Organizational Structure
Coverage of security issues
Security is recognized as a key-issue that deserves the attention of the ITDG.
Mandate of the proposed Security WG has to be amended, covering more practical and project-oriented issues and more focused on tasks and security-related frameworks.
The working group is set up for one year and will be reconsidered next year.
IT Director's Group Meeting – Nov 2012
Summary conclusions

6. Enterprise Architecture
Presentation of Enterprise Architecture
The usefulness of a general strategy is recognised. The strategy goes beyond IT related issues and should be driven by business.
The "to be" state is perceived as very general. Special concerns with exchange of microdata were expressed by some countries.
Given the ambition of the programme, the implementation should be progressive, starting from projects with convincing business cases.
The costs and benefits of the projects for the Member States have to be analysed.
IT Director's Group Meeting – Nov 2012
Summary conclusions

7. Enterprise Architecture
ESS VIPs & Towards an enterprise architecture for the ESS for implementing the vision
General opinion
Most of the Member states see potential efficiency gains but more elaborated business cases are needed.
A full implementation of the programme will take years. It is essential to target quick wins to keep the involvement of the different stakeholders.
It is important to be more concrete, to elaborate a roadmap …
The programme must be strongly coordinated with other international initiatives sharing the same vision.
Big data is a new issue whose impact on ESS VIP programme would deserve more attention
IT Director's Group Meeting – Nov 2012
Summary conclusions

8. Enterprise Architecture
ESS VIPs & Towards an enterprise architecture for the ESS for implementing the vision
Involvement of Member states
Several countries have started developments fully consistent with the approach adopted in the programme and are willing to share with others.
Some Member states underlined the specificity of their national IT systems. This could partially challenge the relevance of the programme for them.
The programme is designed to benefit the ESS as a whole; benefits for countries will have to be highlighted.
IT Director's Group Meeting – Nov 2012
Summary conclusions

9. Enterprise Architecture
ESS VIPs & Towards an enterprise architecture for the ESS for implementing the vision
Role of ITDG
ITDG should play an active role in the elaboration and implementation of the programme according to its mandate but leadership by business is needed.
ITDG should play a role in orchestration of the initiatives and in the validation of the results.
IT Director's Group Meeting – Nov 2012
Summary conclusions

10. Enterprise Architecture
Principles of IT Architecture
ITDG took note of the progress and the links with the on-going work by HLG on "plug and play" architecture.
SISAI has mandated a taskforce to elaborate the principles. They should deliver next year.
IT Director's Group Meeting – Nov 2012
Summary conclusions

11. IT Director's Group Meeting – 27-28 Nov 2012
Working Groups
Sharing data validation services
ITDG took note of the progress made.
ITDG will be kept informed on the progress in the coming months
SDMX-RI user group
The mandate for this group was approved.
IT Director's Group Meeting – Nov 2012
Summary conclusions

12. IT Director's Group Meeting – 27-28 Nov 2012
Working Groups
ESS Metadata Handler User Group; EDAMIS user group
ITDG took note of the progress of these groups.
Work is on-going to improve the reliability of EDAMIS and the Web-Based training platform.
IT Director's Group Meeting – Nov 2012
Summary conclusions

13. IT Director's Group Meeting – 27-28 Nov 2012
Work Programme
ESSNet SDMX
ITDG took note of the progress made.
ITDG asked SISAI to review certain deliverables (eCollect and Visualisation Tool)
ITDG took note of the problem of governance and maintenance of tools developed by ESSNets. It will have to be addressed in a broader context.
IT Director's Group Meeting – Nov 2012
Summary conclusions

14. IT Director's Group Meeting – 27-28 Nov 2012
Work Programme
Work programmes 2013/2014 & Negative Priorities
The ITDG took note of the 2013 work programme. The structure is perceived as difficult to read and should be improved.
ITDG discussed the proposed orientations for 2014, based on 5 pillars (network infrastructure, data sharing environments, service-oriented architecture, security and information models). Concerns expressed on:
Security related issues which should be emphasized (especially for the sharing of microdata)
The necessity of in-depth analysis is needed before joining other networks (ex.: Testa or CCN)
ITDG approved the main-orientations of the 2014 programme including the negative priorities
IT Director's Group Meeting – Nov 2012
Summary conclusions

15. IT Director's Group Meeting – 27-28 Nov 2012
Legislation
Cross-Cutting legislation on processes, standards and metadata / Implementation measures
ITDG was informed on the current progress regarding this regulation. ITDG will be kept up to date on the progress made.
IT Director's Group Meeting – Nov 2012
Summary conclusions

16. IT Director's Group Meeting – 27-28 Nov 2012
Reports
SISAI
ITDG manifested the necessity to guarantee the consistency between all projects managed by the group. They must be guided by an overall strategy/architecture and the group should maintain the coherence of the project within it
ITDG asked SISAI to explore innovative ways to organize the work, such as virtual meetings (audio, video, web), SPRINT sessions, …
When impact on resources is important, ITDG should be consulted.
IT Director's Group Meeting – Nov 2012
Summary conclusions

17. IT Director's Group Meeting – 27-28 Nov 2012
Reports
DIME
ITDG took note of the progress made.
Cooperation with DIME should be enforced through a joint steering group
IT Director's Group Meeting – Nov 2012
Summary conclusions

18. IT Director's Group Meeting – 27-28 Nov 2012
Reports
Sponsorship on Standardisation
ITDG took note of the progress made.
The planned workshop should make it possible to cross the viewpoint of specialists in the field.
Exchange of confidential information and VIP SICON
ITDG states that high-priority and proper resources should be given to make this project a success.
IT Director's Group Meeting – Nov 2012
Summary conclusions

19. IT Director's Group Meeting – 27-28 Nov 2012
Reports
VIP Enhanced Dissemination Chain
ITDG took note of the progress made.
HLG-BAS, MSIS, GSIM, SAB, Statistical Network
SDMX including SWG and TWG / SDMX implementation in National Accounts
IT Director's Group Meeting – Nov 2012
Summary conclusions